'Shrek' premiere is great opportunity for Stage Right

Email Newsletters

(from left) Cast members, Brandon Shawl of Yough, as 'Pinocchio', Anna Stewart of Hempfield Township as 'Dragon', Greg Kerestan of Hempfield Township as 'Lord Farquaad', John Lypson of Connellsville as 'Bishop', Renata Marino of Greensburg as 'Fiona', David Mahokey of Pittsburgh at 'Donkey', and Serena Valletta of New Kensington as 'Dancer', rehearse for the Stage Right upcoming production of 'Shrek', Thursday evening, November 14, 2013, at the Stage Right School for Performing Arts and Professional Theatre Company, Greensburg, PA.

Daily Photo Galleries

Traveling by Jeep, boat and foot, Tribune-Review investigative reporter Carl Prine and photojournalist Justin Merriman covered nearly 2,000 miles over two months along the border with Mexico to report on coyotes — the human traffickers who bring illegal immigrants into the United States. Most are Americans working for money and/or drugs. This series reports how their operations have a major impact on life for residents and the environment along the border — and beyond.

If Stage Right artistic director Tony Marino is extra cheerful this week, it's only because he is having so much fun fine-tuning his role as the mean ogre in “Shrek The Musical.” The damsel he'll be saving in the first area production of the Broadway hit is his real-life wife and the show's choreographer, Renata Marino, who plays Fiona, the Ogre Princess.

It's not only Tony Marino's fairytale role that has him beaming, though; it's everything about the show.

“It is rare that you can do the local premiere of any title. To be the first theater anywhere in the area to do the first local production of a show is incredibly special,” he says. “And we're doing this special and beautiful show the right way, with a great cast of pros, cutting-edge projections and animations and costumes rented straight from the touring companies that travel the country doing this musical.”

Chris Orosz, Stage Right's executive director, says the theater company had an opportunity to rent many of the “Shrek” costumes and bring in a props and production specialist through its contacts in New York.

“We are so excited about this show and want to serve the material as well as we can,” she says. “I think people are going to be blown away by the performances and overall look of the show.”

“Shrek The Musical” follows the story of the ugly ogre from “Shrek,” the 2001 animated film from DreamWorks that originated with William Steig's 1990 picture book of the same name. The stage version that opened on Broadway in 2008 was followed by tours in North America and Great Britain until it recently was made available to regional theaters.

In Stage Right's production, David Mahokey of Dunbar portrays Donkey, Shrek's sidekick on his journey to find Princess Fiona, who is the intended bride of Lord Farquaad, portrayed by Greg Kerestan of Greensburg.

While it might seem like Mahokey has the bigger challenge playing a donkey — he says he's still getting used to having to gesture with hooves, not hands — actually it's probably Kerestan who has a more demanding role.

Lord Farquaad is the height-challenged ruthless ruler of Duloc, who is not of royal heritage but will become king if he marries a princess, whom he decides will be Fiona.

To convey his shortness to the audience, the script calls for the actor playing Farquaad to walk on his knees, with puppet legs attached to his thighs.

“It requires a lot of stunt work,” Kerestan says. “It's probably one of the most physical roles I have done.”

Both actors say they were fans of “Shrek” as far back as elementary school, and they're having a blast doing the show.

“Shrek and Donkey are two of the best-known iconic characters in pop culture,” Mahokey says.

A 12-piece orchestra directed by Mike Matteo and vocals directed by Cynthia Baltzer help to bring an energetic score to life, including choreography that features a chorus of dancing mice.

“If the guy playing Shrek — me — can be half as great as the talent he is surrounded by, it's going to be a show that anyone who sees it will be talking about for a long time,” Tony Marino says.

Also featured in the cast of 50 are Joe Pedulla, Maurissa Auer and Alex Noble.

TribLive commenting policy

You are solely responsible for your comments and by using TribLive.com you agree to our Terms of Service.

We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership. By screening submissions, we provide a space where readers can share intelligent and informed commentary that enhances the quality of our news and information.

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderating decisions are subjective. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. Because of the volume of reader comments, we cannot review individual moderation decisions with readers.

We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely. We make an effort to protect discussions from repeated comments  either by the same reader or different readers.

We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. A few things we won't tolerate: personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, proselytizing and SHOUTING. Don't include URLs to Web sites.

We do not edit comments. They are either approved or deleted. We reserve the right to edit a comment that is quoted or excerpted in an article. In this case, we may fix spelling and punctuation.

We welcome strong opinions and criticism of our work, but we don't want comments to become bogged down with discussions of our policies and we will moderate accordingly.

We appreciate it when readers and people quoted in articles or blog posts point out errors of fact or emphasis and will investigate all assertions. But these suggestions should be sent via e-mail. To avoid distracting other readers, we won't publish comments that suggest a correction. Instead, corrections will be made in a blog post or in an article.

Total Promotional Solutions

A division of Trib Total Media is your one-stop-shop for all of your branded merchandise needs.

We specialize in providing quality affordable promotional products for every type of business including non-profits, schools, universities, sports teams and more. With 1000’s of products to choose from, our knowledgeable staff can help you find the perfect apparel item or product to suit your needs and budget.

Digital Sales

We offer a wide variety of traditional and new digital advertising options customized to fit your needs!

Whether you're just starting out, or you've been a keystone in the community for years, our knowledgeable staff can provide you with a customized package including online banners/advertisements, Social Media Marketing (Facebook / Twitter), Website development, Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing solutions and much more!

Contact your local sales rep today for details, personalized proposal and a meeting to discuss how we can meet your needs.